What I Saw at the GOP Convention

Part Two: National Security

by Gary Aldrich - Volume 1 Issue 22 August 11, 2000

The Executive Branch spends billions every year to maintain a perception
of national security. But before Bill Clinton and Al Gore came to the
White House, policies and procedures, along with lots of highly trained
security personnel were used to do more than just maintain an expensive
façade.

The well kept dirty secret revealed here today is that Al Gore and his
Vice Presidential staff were no better than Clinton, at looking out for
Americaís interests, if quality of staff is any measure. Goreís staff
- at least the ones I saw through my investigative lenses - were no better
than Clintonís, and in some cases, they were much worse.

I resigned my post in the White House because I refused to continue to
be part of a massive and dangerous fraud on citizens and the Congress.
Those of us in the FBI and Secret Service who were charged with protecting
White House secrets flowing through every day, were being prevented from
doing our jobs by an administration more interested in a partyís agenda,
than in our nationís best interests.

Perhaps therein lies the difference between a future Al Gore Administration
or a future George W. Bush administration - it is the way the two competing
political groups view the question of exactly what is in the best interest
of our nation.

Many of those above the rank and file of our national security agencies
were helpless to prevent the security collapse, maybe too afraid or unable
to believe the reality of a purposeful monkey wrenching of the system.
So, unopposed, the Clinton-Gore Administration did exactly what it wanted
to do, and as a predictable by-product the outrageous and debilitating
scandals took place - and the laptops and nuclear secrets "walked
off" to who knows where.

Those in the system - the security professionals who claim today that
they have "no idea" about how these security breaches took place
- are simply lying. As an effective lightening rod, Bill Clinton and his
staff took much of the heat, but Al Gore and his senior staff had major
security problems of their own, which were mostly ignored.

Worse, Gore and Co. were fully aware of the White House wide security
collapse, and did nothing to prevent it, even when they were warned that
it was happening. A former Senator Gore should have been more concerned
about it, but there is no evidence of concern, if he had any. Gore has
done nothing but defend Bill Clinton, regardless of the impact on the
nation.

Further, it was Al Goreís Reinvention of Government initiative that first
publicly complained about the previous security system, which had been
an effective screening tool in place for more than 30 years. Gore and
his people deemed it too complicated, too expensive, and too intrusive
to the applicants wanting to work for the federal government. So, they
ordered agencies to privatize much of this important work, turning to
outside contractors in many cases.

As a result, career national security professionals - like me - left
in droves, having had our responsibilities taken away, our jobs downgraded,
or our positions eliminated altogether.

Today, we see the "benefits" of Goreís "improvements."
For example, almost one million background investigations backed up at
the Department of Defense, as a direct result of Goreís "Reinvention"
schemes. Gore constantly uses the term "risky" to define the
plans of others, but my former associates tell me that identical problems
exist in every important national security agency, or system. In other
words, Gore and Co. took an effective security protection system and helped
break it, but if "Reinvention" came with serious risk, it appears
that Gore will be the last to admit it.

The security personnel theyíve cut and the money theyíve saved to make
themselves look better will form the basis of a gigantic "bill"
that will be presented to the next president - unless, of course that
president is named Al Gore.

In the event Gore takes over where Bill Clinton has left off, you can
be sure that he will do nothing to reveal his role in the greatest national
security calamity since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. With an Al Gore Administration,
expect the worst - unless of course you share Al Goreís one-world view.

On the other hand, itís quite appropriate to acknowledge the obvious:
There is no Republican administration in modern times - if ever - that
failed to make national security a centerpiece of their time in office.
Does this mean that a Bush Administration would do a better job of protecting
our nationís security? Will you need to use one of your "life-lines"
to answer this simple question?

For me - a security professional who worked in both a Republican and
Democratic White House - there can be no hesitation. When it comes to
national security, the Democrats that Iíve worked with just donít seem
to "get it." Why?

In my opinion it doesnít matter much why they tossed out national security.
If you canít prove they crashed the system for treasonous reasons, then
what matters now is what we can do to protect what we have left.

And, along with real protection of national security at the White House,
the obvious by-product will be a relatively scandal-free White House.
I think weíre all ready for that.